Hands off Medicare

2,019 Signed

Tony Abbott is about to radically increase the cost of seeing a doctor for millions of Australians. He said his controversial GP Tax wasn't going ahead - but that was far from the truth.

From January 19th this year, all Australian's visiting their doctors are about to be hit by a new $20 fee.

Medicare coverage for visits to a doctor of less than 10 minutes will be cut from $37.05 to $16.95 - increasing the cost of every visit you make by $20.10.

This is a cruel move which will hit the millions of us who need to visit our doctors for routine visits - such as getting a prescription or a blood pressure check. Last year for example, over 35 million appointments went for less than 10 minutes.

It's also a stealthy attempt to destroy Medicare. If GP's bulk bill, they'll be forced to pick up the tab, pressuring many to stop bulk billing entirely to or charge a small fee for short appointments.

Doctors also expect it will likely significantly increase waiting times, with patients booking longer appointments to get around the 10 minute cap.

This fee will unfairly target women, students, the elderly and the most vulnerable in our society - those who can least afford it and most need access to high quality healthcare.

Optional email code

Liquid error: primary_county is not a valid form field for PetitionSignature.